Corsair CX400W PSU

Aesthetics and Specification

There are a few pretty lairy-looking PSUs on the market these days, with stickers that could have been designed by a NASCAR team whereas Corsair have opted for a much more conservative design approach.

The matt black finish, black fan and fan grill, black screws and black cable braiding produce a consistent ninja-like theme that would conceal itself stealthily in a build, without taking attention away from other bits you would rather show off through a perspex window. Furthermore, the Corsair logo moulded into the metal casing delivers a feel of enhanced build quality, than a racy sticker slapped on the side.

The cable braiding goes all the way into the casing, rather than leaving a colourful bundle of unsightly tied off ends at the base of the casing where they all meet, which is another quality touch. On the downside though, the braid is a little on the loose side, making them feel a little cheap when you squeeze them.

Likewise the wires used are relatively thin, particularly on the SATA and Molex connectors, which use a notably lower AWG rating. The downside here is that thinner wires provide more resistance to the flow of the current than those that use heavier gauges, however respectfully for a 400W we'd hardly expect some demanding hardware.

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The generic-looking black fan generates a perfectly acceptable minimal amount of noise and there's no audible coil whine from within when we hooked it up to a few systems. Moving the PSU around while the fan was whirring quietly also showed no sign of it being poorly mounted or unbalanced.

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The PSU features a single 12V rail which sensibly utilises 360W - or 90 percent - of the PSU's 400W capability. The rail is rated at a hefty 30A, providing ample flow of electricity for your core hardware, however 40W for 3.3V and 5V is quite a considerable allocation of total power nonetheless.